Sky Watch: Early risers will get best views this week

Updated 4:40 pm, Monday, January 28, 2013

The best sky watching for the next few days happens during the pre-dawn hours, so set your alarms for some early bird specials.

Wednesday morning finds Saturn high in the south as a bright, gold stellar point. It is the brightest starlike gem resting at the moon's far left.

It will be an easy target and marks the lower left point of a very large isosceles triangle. Arcturus marks the top vertex point of this triangle, and Spica marks the spot for the lower right vertex and should be an easy catch for everyone.

The rings can be seen spread out, and keen eyes should be able to pick out Saturn's moon Titan with ease.

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Rural stargazers will have the best views of this ringed wonder, while city slickers can easily catch it since fewer stars will be visible to add to the confusion.

For most city sky watchers, Saturn will be the only shiny speck in the southwest during the early hours of the day.

Views of Saturn with binoculars reveal a warped or elongated shape. Views with a small telescope will leave you wanting more, while a large telescope will leave you hypnotized and wanting dawn to pause so you can have a few more minutes to be dazzled by Saturn's exquisite beauty.

Venus will rise about 45 minutes before the sun, but it's so brilliant it's an easy catch and unmistakable.

Wednesday morning also brings us a nice International Space Station pass.

Gaze toward the north-northwest at 6:25 a.m. The ISS will appear as a moving stellar point and glide toward the very bright star Vega, high in the northeast.

The station will continue its trek across the morning sky and finally fade from view in the southeast at 6:33 a.m.

Friday morning brings us an even brighter ISS pass at 6:22 a.m.

This pass will begin high in the northwest and then take the ISS above the moon at 6:24 a.m.

The station can be found just below Saturn at 6:24:20 a.m.

Next, the ISS will sweep down and across Scorpius in the southeast and finally end near the stinger of the scorpion at 6:29 a.m.

This pass is very bright and will be the best one for some time, so make the effort to view it. It will be stunning!

The pass is best seen with the naked eye, so don't worry about grabbing your binoculars; they aren't necessary to enjoy this show.